Propeller.



E. OHANLON.

PROPELLER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 7. um;v

Patented Oct. 15, 1918.

E. U H an'L u 11.

atto'nmzv- EDWARD OI-IANLON, 0F DAVENPORT, IOWA.

PROPELLER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Oct, 15, 1918.

Application filed January 7, 1918. Serial No. 210,709.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD OHANLON, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Davenport, in the county of Scott and State of Iowa, haveinvented a new and useful Propeller, of which the following is aspecification.

The present invention relates to propellers for boats, and relates moreparticularly to a propeller of the reciprocating type.

' The object of this invention is to provide a propeller whichcomprises. a relatively simple and compact structure embodying few partswhich admit of strength in their formation and which may be readilyassembled; av propeller which may be easily reciprotated by hand; apropeller which is provided with an automatically adjustable ladeadapted to be swung into an operative position for ofl'ering resistanceto the impact of water thereagainst not only by virtue of the mountingof the blade, but also by an inherent buoyancy tending to raise theblade; and to provide a propeller with a blade and mechanical actuatingmeans for urging the same into a position to offer resistance to thewater upon the impact stroke of the propeller.

The above, and various other advantages and objects of this inventionwill be in part described and in part understood from the followingdetailed description of the presentpreferred embodiment, the same beingillustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a boat having a propeller constructedaccording to the present invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a detail front elevation of the propeller, enlarged, the samebeing in position to offer resistance to the fluid medium.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section taken through the same substantially onthe plane indicated by the line 33 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4: is a similar view showing the blade in lowered position fordecreasing the impact of the propeller upon its idle stroke.

Fig. 5 is a detail fragmentary elevation of the upper end of thepropeller, showing one manner of mounting the same.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section taken substantially on the line 66 ofFig. 5, showing a modified form of tension means for urging the bladeinto operative position.

Referring to this drawing A designates a boat or water craft of anysuitable construcried upon a beam 11. Intermediate the ends of the arm12, the latter has a handle 16 adapted to be grasped by the hand forswinging the arm 12 upon its upper pivoted end as a center to oscillatethe blad'elS.

A T-head 17 is carried upon the lower end of the arm 12 and providedwith a transverse bolt or trunnions 18 adapted to pass through eyes 19outstanding in spaced relation from the. upper or forward side of theblade 13. Nuts 20 or the like are secured onthe opposite ends of thetrunnions 18 for retaining the blade 13 upon the lower end of the arm12. The blade 13 is adapted'to swing down at substantially right anglesto the longitudinal axis of the arm 12, as shown in Fig. 1, to reducethe resistance of the propeller in traveling through the water duringthe idle stroke, or during the movement of the propeller into a positionto obtain a purchase upon the fluid medium.

The blade 13 is relatively wide and long and is provided in its upper orforward face with a relatively deep concavity extending throughout themajor portion of the blade and into which a body of cork 21 or othersuitable buoyant material is placed for the purpose of normally urgingthe blade 13 to swing up into operativeposition.

To augment the action of the buoyant material 21, a spring 22 may beinterposed between an arm 23 on the lower end of the arm 12 and aconnection or arm 24 on the forward end of the blade 13, the arm 24being curved upwardly from the blade and adapted to register beneath thearm 23 when the blade is lowered. The spring 22 is secured at oppositeends to the arms 23 and 24 and is adapted to normally urge the arm 24down and raise the blade 13 against the rear side of the arm 12.

The modification shown in Figs. 5 and 6 shows a downwardly flaringsocket 25 in the form of a sleeve through which slidably engages a rod26 provided on its upper end I tion of the strain. The eyes 19 arespaced with a weight 27 and a foot 28 upon its lower end adapted to bearagainst the upper face of the blade 13 forwardly of the pivot 18 to urgethe rear end of the blade upward. The socket 25 is flared downward toadmit the oscillation of the rod 26 as the foot 28 rocks upon theforward end of the blade as the latter swings up and down.

In operation, the arm 12 is swung forward at its lower end and theresistance of the fluid medium against the blade 13 swings the latter'down into a horizontal position to reduce the resistance of thepropeller to forward movement.

As soon as the propeller reaches the end of its forward stroke, thebuoyancy of the propeller together with the lifting means, such as thespring 22 or the weight 27, urges the blade to immediately rise againstthe rear side of the arm 12, the latter serving as a brace to supportthe blade and relieve the hinge 18 thereof from the greater porapartupon the blade to effectively hold it from swaying or bending laterally.The lower end of the arm 12 is now drawn back and the resistance of therelatively large surface area of thevblade 13 is brought into fullcontact with the fluid medium to offer considerable resistance tomovement and thus transmit a counter force through the arm 12 to theframe 10 and the craft A.

It is of course understood that various changes and modificationsmay bemade in the details of construction and design of the above specificallydescribed embodiment of this invention without departing from the spiritthereof, such changes and modifications beingrestricted only by thescope of the following claims. What is claimed is:

1. In a propeller, the combination with a boat, of a frame rigidlyattached to the boat and rising therefrom, a pair of arms having theirupper ends bent inwardly and pivotally connected to said frame, handlesattached to and extending inwardly from said arms intermediate theirends, blades pivotally connected to the lower ends of said arms to forma transverse pivot and adapted to swing against the rear side of thearms upon the impact stroke of the propeller and further adapted toswing down into a substantially horizontal position upon the forwardstroke of the propeller and means for assisting in urging said bladesagainst the rear sides of the arms upon th impact stroke of thepropeller.

2. In a propeller, the combination, with a boat, of a frame rigidlyattachedto the boat and rising therefrom, an arm having its upper endpivotally connected to the frame, a blade pivotally connected tothelower end of said arm, an arcuate plate carried by said blade andcurving over its pivot, brackets carried by said arm, and an expansionspiral spring positioned between said brackets. and arm for assisting inurging said blade againstthe rear side of the. arm upon the impactstroke of the propeller.

3. In a propeller, the combination with a boat, of a frame rigidlyttached to the boat and rising therefrom, a pair of armshaving theirupper ends bent inwardly and pivotally connectedto said frame, handlesattached to and extending inwardly from said arms intermediate theirends, blades pivotally connected to the lower ends of said arms to forma transverse pivot andadapt ed, to swing against the rear side of thearms upon the impact stroke of the propeller and adapted to swing downinto a substantially horizontal position upon the for.- ward stroke ofthe propeller, arcuate plates carried by said blades and curving overtheir pivots, brackets carried by said arms, and expansion spiralsprings positioned between said brackets and arms for assisting inurging said blades against the rear sides of the arms upon the impactstroke of the propeller. a

EDWARD OHAN LON.

Copies of. this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the FGommissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

